Aavegotchi, a non-fungible token (NFT) protocol focused on Web3 gaming, has opted to abandon blockchain network Polygon and “go all-in” on Base, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling chain, according to the results of an onchain vote. 

On April 8, Aavegotchi’s community members voted 93.5% in favor of a proposal to “Make Aavegotchi Based Again” by deprecating the protocol’s smart contracts on Polygon and re-deploying on Base, according to Aavegochti’s governance page. 

“Given our close relationship with the Base team, as well as recent developments in the Base ecosystem […] we believe the most +EV move for Aavegotchi (for this cycle, at least) is to sunset [its Polygon deployment] and go all-in on Base,” Aavegotchi founder Dan said in a February X post proposing the shift.

The migration reflects Aavegotchi’s efforts to adapt to 2025’s cryptocurrency market downturn, which was worsened last week by President Donald Trump’s plan to impose sweeping tariffs on most US imports. 

Aavegotchi’s developer, Pixelcraft Studios, has “recently made significant team cuts to reduce our burn and extend runway,” Dan said. Memecoins and NFTs have been among Web3’s hardest-hit segments so far this year.

Aavegotchi’s community voted overwhelmingly for the move. Source: Aavegotchi

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Polygon’s flat TVL

Aavegotchi’s decision also highlights Polygon’s ongoing challenges in maintaining users and total value locked (TVL) in the face of competition from Ethereum layer-2 chains, such as Arbitrum and Base. 

Polygon’s TVL has declined from highs of nearly $10 billion in 2021 to approximately $725 million as of April 8, according to data from DeFILlama. Both Base and Arbitrum each hold more than $2 billion in TVL, DefiLlama data shows. 

TVL is a key metric used in DeFi (decentralized finance) to measure the total amount of assets deposited in a protocol. It not only reflects user trust and adoption but also serves as an indicator of available liquidity.

According to Dan, Polygon hasn’t delivered any major updates or features for gaming protocols. “Polygon has not shipped any significant updates or features to PoS to enable better ecosystem coherence or discovery for gaming.”  

Polygon’s growth has been relatively flat in recent years. Source: Coder Dan

Meanwhile, “both Base and Arbitrum stand out as being both performant and ‘lindy’ – able to stand the test of time,” Dan said, adding he prefers Base because of the chain’s “stronger retail onboarding.”

Base is an optimistic rollup launched in 2023 by Coinbase, the US’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. 

Aavegotchi was created in a collaboration between Pixelcraft Studios and Aave, a decentralized lending protocol. 

It describes its NFTs as “digital collectibles” that can be “customized with various wearables, such as hats, glasses, and other accessories [and]can be bought, sold, and traded as NFTs,” according to its website. 

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